Shadow of Cavaliers Demons
by Glora Ree
Summary: Are the Realms prepared for the repercussions of a Cavaliers heroics? The first chapter of a daring novella that will span the Realms and bridge the gap between friend and foe...I have inadvertantly miss named a charcter, Tina is Diana


disclaimer. I do not own nor do I profit from the characters found in the original Dungeons and Dragons cartoon series.

Chapter 0

Venger crossed the room. In the shadows of the forbidden castle he was well hidden, even from his own minions. His massive horn, curling up and away from his ancient head, caught what little light persisted to invade the room high in the tower, streaking broken moonlight across the dark room.

Hank bowed his head, squinting his eyes against the glare. He didn't want to take his eyes off of the being that had become the companions enemy, but the green piercing light forced his eyes down.. More than an enemy,Venger had kept them from leaving this god-forsaken world, had forced them to stay so that he could gather their weapons. They hadn't a clue of the weapon's history, they only knew that when catapulted to this world, his friends had been given the means to protect themselves. Venger had sought them ever since they had arrived. And now he had them. The weapons of power, as they had become known across the Realm, sat on the dark stone of a sarcophagus near a tapered window that stretched from floor to ceiling revealing a green colored moon.

Shadow Demon watched them, his white slits for eyes never moving from Hank and his friends. Four of them, including himself were secured to the stony floor with ropes of glowing mesh. How long they had been here he wasn't sure. Here the moon never fell from the sky, the sun didn't rise. Vengers castle seemed outside of the constraints of time. Tina lay near him, her breathing shallow and troubled, she had been injured the worse.

Her neck had purpled with the swelling, Hank could see the tapered lines where the Goblins hands had squeezed until she had passed out. Why had it been so easy? He had had enough time to think about it. Why couldn't he find an answer?

Bobby and Sheila lay next to each other, she did her best to sling an arm around him. The bonds of light made it difficult to move, but somehow she had forced them to slacken enough to accomplish some comfort for her little brother. Presto's red hair was disheveled and odd looking to the Ranger, he wasn't accustomed to seeing the magician without his bitter sweet conical hat. He smiled wondering if the group was better of without it. The mage was a constant comic, however reluctant his antics he always provided a laugh at the right moment.

Out the window he saw the sickening green moon, it was a horrible guard, a companion to the even more monstrous nightmare of their captor.

Venger was angry, he pointed his taloned finger at Shadow Demon, cursing him from what Hank could tell. Venger used a language unknown to him, one that originated in the Realms. Hank didn't need to understand the slanted and gruff vocabulary to know what Venger scolded his slave about.

Eric had run. For once his cowardice had benefited his friends. Perhaps if he would not have fled they wouldn't have been caught. Hank knew he had to hope the Cavalier would aid them.

Again he watched the fitful sleep of the Wizard wondering if he could make them laugh just once more before Vengers dark plan was complete.

0+0

Shadow Demon fell from the window, his wispy wings folded against his non-corporeal body. He felt the wind moving through him, and knew, based on the speed of his fall, just when he could glide away from the rushing ground beneath. Tonight he had wanted to take Vengers scolding taloned finger and slice the 'man' to bits with it. There was a time when Venger would not have spoken to him in that manner, a time when Venger was the scolded.

The glide, just as he opened up his wings, took him over the craggy valleys and toothy peaks of Vengers lair. There was no water here, no trees, no wild grasses and no life at all. Venger was afraid. He had always been afraid. He had wiped the land of any shelter for foes, or for wildlife.

Shadow Demon enjoyed his current form, though it was not always as it was now. Being a servant to Venger was certainly a horrid endeavor, but he settled into it quickly enough. Vengers cause to capture the young ones fit well with his own lust for the weapons of power. Aiding Venger would benefit his master as well as himself. The young Cavalier had run into the mountains, Shadow Demon was sure that he, of all the young ones, would not be able to last in the cold winter of the Windfrost Mountains. He would simply follow the youth until he died, gather the shield and return it to Venger.

The portal came into view, a whirling sheen of light and gasses, brilliant purple and gold. Vengers minion flew for the diamond shaped center, around which golden light spun. In the next instant Shadow Demon was above the Valley of Shole, and beyond that sprang the Windfrost Mountains.

0+0

Eric new the pangs of guilt well. He was in his third bout of it, when he saw the raggedy beings edging closer to the cave he had been huddled in for two nights. His armor, he had found was well resilient to the cold, another gift that Dungeon Master had given. A blizzard had ripped through the trees of the forest that cradled the Windfrost peaks the first night. He had wisely stayed beneath the timberline, and with his shield providing a kind of energy igloo, felt very little of the shards of ice and snow that had pummeled the thick trees around him.

The cave would be off limits from now on. Under the shelter of a massive frozen evergreen he watched the thin scarecrow-esque beings stilt their way into what had become his shelter. He had discovered them the night of the blizzard, after the storm passed, dropping his shield, they had been standing there. Their white bodies made them nearly impossible to see, only the bright green ebbing eyes gave them away. He had quickly shielded himself again. They pounded on the barrier, and finally walked of in their crooked manner after night was nearly over.

He had seen a road down a bit from the cave, and decided to see if he could wager a ride from someone. The town of Beggars Chill was not more than a days journey from where he and the others had camped. He could make it before sundown by wagon if he could manage a ride. Eric began pulling himself along with his armor through the snow.

Guilt had begun to settle into his bones, stinging like a persistent wasps revenge. His cowardice had always allowed him an out. Hank would usually save the group when he made an error in judgment, the others always there to help. It was his fault the group had been captured. Even Bobby would have trudged without thought into the middle of those goblins Shadow Demon had led after them. He wished, now, that he had someone to lean on, to give over command of the current situation to, even Presto would be welcome.

He stumbled every five steps, the weight of the snow on his boots making him fall forward into drifts. Clinging to trees for a moments rest, catching his breath, then forcing his weary legs onward finally brought him to the road. Morning had passed swiftly during his trek, the sun right above him, providing what warmth it could. He set his shield down and sat on it. As he settled his weight onto the magic weapon, it slid a few feet over the fresh snow from the night before.

_'Beneath the light powder there must be hard packed snow from the caravans passing to Beggars Chill.' _He thought. He lifted his feet, and instead of waiting to hitch a ride, began to propel himself down the road, gliding when he could down the small rises that wove through the trees of the deadly Windfrost Mountains.


End file.
